Ticked Meets Off
by For Lack Of A Name-Pen-Name
Summary: Husky and the gang have to go into town to find jobs, but Husky meets a surprising new character. Chapter three is up. Go nuts!
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own +Anima. Just in case you were curious...**

"Don't pull my hair," a tiny girl with long wavy blonde hair shrieked. A dark haired child retorted,

"Quit you whining! You need to learn when to shut up!" A short boy with silver hair interrupted the two of them,

"Both of you! Shut up! Let go of Nana's hair!" Both of them looked at him, frozen in place. The dark haired one apologized,

"Sorry Husky," then dropped the blonde hair that had been in his hand. He stepped back towards a tall gray-haired teen that was not listening to any of them. Another dark-haired boy was nearby the gray-haired teen, playing with a feather. Husky huffed,

"That's right run over there." The dark haired boy stuck out his tongue, holding up Husky's money. Husky shouted,

"Pick-pocket!" He wondered to himself why they even kept the boy with them, since they had no real ties to him before.

Husky scowled as yet another argument between Nana and him ensued. She always seemed to cause trouble about every little inconvenience. Nana whined,

"But we don't have much money and it's such a pretty town." Husky shouted,

"I don't care! It's too big and we can make it just fine to the next town!" Nana seemed to be trying to think of a good argument in response to that. Cooro stepped up, grinning, despite the fact there was an argument going on,

"I know! Why don't we go into town this time and next time we won't when Husky says." Husky opened his mouth to say that it was the stupidest argument he had ever heard, but Nana agreed too loudly for him to do anything otherwise. Husky moaned,

"Fine. Not like I have a choice in the matter." Nana beamed, Cooro laughed, and Senri watched a caterpillar climbing up a tree. Husky muttered, "Well come on. Let's go." The four of them walked up to the town just as the sun rose to noon. They all breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be out of the woods for once. Husky dictated the orders, taking charge,

"All right. First we'll have lunch, then we can get some jobs. As soon as we have enough gillah we're leaving. Got it?" Nana and Cooro nodded and Senri pointed to a food stand. Husky paid for the lunch with all but a few of their coins, making sure there was enough to fill their empty bellies. Cooro ate like he had never seen before and was immediately begging for more. Husky tried to quiet him, but only Senri succeeded by handing Cooro some of his lunch. Once they had finished eating Husky repeated his earlier instructions,

"Now for jobs. Let's go." Nana and Cooro both looked like eager puppies in response to having real jobs. In Husky's opinion that was a silly thing to be excited about.

Senri got a job first, as he often did. He was hired to do hard labor for some lumberjacks. Then Nana was hired to a florist's shop, under the claim her small fingers would be good for arranging bouquets. That left Husky and Cooro to look for work. A few shopkeepers watched them, but Husky's glare seemed to be scaring all of them off. Husky finally relented,

"You know, Cooro, how about you go look for a job by yourself and I'll catch up with you later." Cooro nodded and danced off to find a job. Husky sighed, that boy could be happy about anything. He wandered around, not sure of where to go. Husky decided he would just have to keep walking around with less of a glare on his face. He was walking along when a woman came up next to him. She smiled at him. Husky forced a smile back at the woman, trying to figure out her motives. Finally, he cracked, asking smoothly, "Can I help you ma'am?" The woman chirped,

"Oh yes. I noticed you were looking for work and I was hoping you would be a waiter at the saloon over there." She pointed over her shoulder to a nearby saloon. Husky nodded hurriedly, not wanting this job to slip out of his fingers, for this could be his last chance.

Husky pulled at the bottom of his shirt, getting used to wearing a uniform again. He sighed, well a job as a waiter was better than nothing. The woman instructed him to take a tray and go get to work. Husky obliged, walking out with the tray under his arm. Immediately, he could hear several girls tittering and pointing at him. He barely kept himself from glaring and turned himself into a well-mannered waiter. Husky walked back to the bar, handing the chef his slip with the customer's orders. The chef was quick with the food and Husky only had to wait a moment for the food. He turned around, holding the tray of food easily. Suddenly, he was on his back on the ground, the meal covering his chest. There was another boy on the ground, and he looked none too pleased. This boy was wearing the apron and uniform as well, indicating he was waiter as well. He had dark chocolate colored hair and eyes the color of the ocean. Husky was almost depressed to think about the ocean when he was so far away, but he could not think about that now. He begrudgingly apologized to the kid,

"Sorry. I didn't see you." The boy stared blankly before shrugging his shoulders just enough for Husky to see. Then the boy walked past Husky and handed his paper to the chef. Husky raised his eyebrows at the boy, deciding to just shut his mouth and deal with the boy's silence.

**This is just chapter one. If anyone is interested in reading more of this please review. I will only post more if I have 5 or more reviews. So please read and review. Thank you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: I do no own +anima. I wish I did, but the star has not granted my wish just yet.**

Husky switched out of his uniform, putting back on his clothes. He folded up the uniform and dropped it in a cubbyhole that he was told to store it in until the next day. Husky supposed they did not want him running off with their uniform or something, but what would he want with it in the first place? He turned to walk away just as the boy who had run into him dropped his clothes in one of the small cubbyholes. The boy asked, "What made you stop in this town? Normally, +anima don't stop in this city, people here aren't particularly kind to +anima." Husky looked back at the boy, completely surprised. How had that boy known he was a +anima? Unless, this boy was a +anima as well. Husky asked,

"What makes you think I'm a +anima?" The boy shrugged noncommittally,

"You just feel like one. I can't explain it, but you never answered my question." Husky shrugged, his expression matching the boy's,

"Annoying little girl made me stop." He was still ticked with Nana for making them stop in this town, which apparently hated +anima. Husky had been even more right than ever not to stop in this town. The boy smirked,

"Girls seem to cause trouble a lot." Husky agreed quickly, glad someone else shared his view about the female gender,

"I know!" The boy chuckled,

"Don't get so excited about it. Is the annoying little girl a +anima too?" Husky's tone changed, this kid was pretty nosy. In fact, he had no desire to tell this boy anything more until he gave some sort of decent explanation. Husky huffed,

"You're pretty nosy for a guy that hasn't even introduced or explained himself." He crossed his arms, if only to show he was not budging. The boy rolled his eyes, acting like Husky was the immature one,

"Okay. My name's Sora. Satisfied?" Husky glowered back, this boy, Sora, had gone from being on the same side as Husky to really annoying in the blink of an eye. He groaned,

"I suppose," Husky remembered his manners and added, "I'm Husky, by the way." Sora smirked,

"And I thought my name was bad." Husky growled,

"Hey!" Sora chuckled,

"Whatever. Well, bye." Without another word, Sora walked out of the room, like he was running really late. Husky shrugged, whatever, if he wanted to be weird and run away, that was his business. Then Husky realized that he should be off to look for the others, since they had never actually arranged a meeting place. It looked like they would have to find an inn to stay at or risk Nana whining about staying in the woods again.

Husky walked around for a while, finding Senri near the lumberjack place where he had been hired. Together, they found Nana leaving the florist's shop, giggling with some other girl, who looked to be about her age. Seeing them, Nana parted with the girl, who went back inside. She inquired,

"Where's Cooro?" Husky shrugged,

"Don't know." Nana looked like she was about to start some sort of an argument, but a glare from Husky shut her down. The trio wandered around for about ten minutes, looking into shops and other places, until Nana decided they were splitting up. After agreeing on a meeting place the three of them went their separate ways, Husky heading through a series of dark allies. Just as he reached the end he heard Cooro's voice chirping,

"…about this tall with silver hair." Husky rounded the corner to see Cooro talking to Sora, what a strange coincidence. Cooro's back was to Husky, so Sora spotted him first. Sora pointed to Husky,

"Well, there he is now." Husky was tempted to go into worried parent mode and ask what the heck Cooro thought he was doing and what Sora was doing with him, but decided against it. He figured Sora, despite his attitude, was probably just a nice guy helping out a lost idiot. Sora smirked, "Your friend here was lost." Husky scowled,

"So I gathered." Cooro chimed in,

"Husky, Husky! This nice guy was gonna help me find you, but then you found us so it all worked out!" Husky sighed,

"Lovely. Come on, Nana and Senri are going to think we _both_ got lost if we don't hurry up." Husky turned to walk back through the alley, Cooro following after him like a helpless puppy. Sora waved, his back already turned to them and a tone of sarcasm in his voice,

"Your welcome." Cooro cheered,

"Thank you." Husky rolled his eyes and continued on through the alley, back to meet Nana and Senri before it got too dark for any of them to be able to see.

Cooro and Husky met the other two in front of a small café with a dine-out porch in front of it. There were still a few stragglers sipping at drinks or chatting with friends before they shopkeepers kicked them out. Nana spotted them before Senri and giggled,

"We thought you guys were lost. Well, at least I did, but Senri didn't say anything." Cooro shook his head,

"We weren't lost. I was lost and Husky and another guy found me!" Nana chuckled, but Husky interrupted their little party,

"Now that that's cleared up, we need to get into an inn unless we all want to sleep in the woods." Nana immediately bawled,

"I don't want to sleep in the woods." Husky muttered,

"Exactly." Then he turned and looked for an inn. Senri walked around him, pointing down the road. There must have been an inn that way. They all followed after Senri, none of them disputing his decision.

Senri was absolutely correct and their was an inn only a few minute's walk from the café they had met at. A portly woman stood behind the counter that served as the front desk. She was perched on a stool, focusing all of her attention on a needlepoint of an iris. Cooro walked boldly up to the desk and asked, with a huge grin,

"Can we have a room for tonight?"

**Thanks for reading. Please read and review. If you want to see another chapter I am waiting for five reviews again.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I still don't own it! Get used to it.**

The woman raised her eyes from her needlework, but only slightly, as if she had no time to pay this motley group any mind. Her eyes went from child to child, first to Senri, then to Nana's curls, then to Husky, and then finally resting on Cooro's grin. Her eyebrows raised to a skeptical angle, this woman obviously did not believe that they even had money. Normally, she would have been correct in saying so, but today they actually had money to pay for a room. Husky said practically,

"What is your nightly rate, ma'am?" The woman blinked in surprise, but looked nonchalantly back to her needlework. She replied, her voice a smooth drawl,

"300 gillah a night, young man." Husky sighed, this woman still did not think they would pay, she probably thought they were just a bunch of teenagers killing time by irritating her. Despite the woman's doubts, Husky reached into the groups money purse, which he was in charge of because he was the most responsible with money. Cooro would likely spend all of their money on food that they would not be able to eat before it spoiled, Nana would spend it to buy fabric or jewelry (or some other ridiculous girly thing), and Senri, well, he would probably forget where he stored it. Husky pulled out the 300 gillah, placing it all on the counter. The woman was focused again on her iris, and did not even look up. Husky cleared his throat, trying to get her attention. She looked up, her face screwed up in annoyance, then she saw the money. As soon as she spotted it, her entire attitude changed. The woman beamed, her voice perkier and lighter than before,

"Oh, then I'll just get you the keys to your room." The woman eased out of her chair, her entire body straining with the effort. She pulled a key off of a hook, placing it in Husky's hand. The woman glowed, "Here you go, young man. Go left down the hallway and it's the second door on your right, enjoy your stay at Hibaki's Inn." With his back to her, Husky rolled his eyes slightly, but replied sweetly,

"Thank you ma'am." The crew walked upstairs to the room the woman directed them to. Cooro chattered, once they were out of earshot,

"She was not very nice." Husky only sighed, but Nana chimed in,

"No she wasn't, treating us like we're children." Senri said,

"…"

The room was a pretty nice room for only 300 a night. There were two single beds along with a table with a small oil lamp on it. There was a small wooden chair shoved in the corner of the room like it was being punished. Nana scurried past the others into the room, landing on a bed. She announced, dangling her heels over the edge of the bed,

"This is my bed. I get a bed because I'm a lady." Husky sighed, aggravated a bit with her 'lady' attitude, but he knew that she would have gotten a bed anyways. Husky figured that Nana would get one and Cooro would probably get the other. Cooro looked at the bed, his face twisted as if he were thinking really hard. When he came to a decision he sighed,

"I don't think three people will fit in that bed." Husky snorted, wondering how Cooro would even consider that a possibility. It was far too small a bed for all three of them, especially Senri, to all fit on it. The sleeping arrangements ended with Husky on the floor, Senri in the chair, and Cooro taking the bed. Perhaps the reason Cooro got a bed to himself was because he was a restless sleeper, always tossing and running so much that he often injured anyone sleeping too close.

In the morning, Senri had to leave for work as soon as they were up, followed by Nana, claiming that florist start work early. Husky did not have to go to work for a few hours yet, the saloon opened at about lunchtime, but Husky had to be there early to set up or something. Cooro laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, he was singing some annoying tune about food. Husky was trying to calculate all their pays together, plus the price of the room and food, to see how long they needed to stay, but Cooro's singing kept breaking his concentration. Finally, he shrieked, exasperated,

"Cooro! If you want something to eat just say so!" Cooro fell silent for a moment, staring at Husky with wide eyes. Husky glowered at the wall, trying to go back to his calculations. Cooro breathed,

"Husky…I want something to eat." Husky sighed,

"Fine. Let's go get some food."

After feeding Cooro, and nearly dying after seeing the bill, it was time for Husky to go to work. He was still adding the amount of food Cooro had just eaten to his calculations, at that rate their time of stay was going to be much longer than expected, while he changed into his uniform. His boss, the woman from yesterday, instructed Husky to go set tables for the customers, who would soon be arriving. A few minutes later, Sora walked through the door, looking a little distracted. He took a few mugs and utensils from the tray Husky had and started setting up tables, his mind clearly somewhere else. Sora ran into Husky several times before Husky grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shook him. That seemed to be effective in waking the boy from his daze. Sora glowered at Husky, irritated at being shaken like a rag doll. He growled,

"Can I help you, Husky?" Husky huffed,

"Yeah, pay attention to what you're doing. You keep running into stuff, you're going to break something." Sora frowned, trying to tell if Husky was serious. He sighed,

"…Sorry, I guess. I was…distracted." Husky scoffed,

"No really?" Sora hissed,

"Hey! I apologized. Don't 'no really' me." He took another mug from Husky, walking to a far table to put it down, if only to get away from him. Husky rolled his eyes, it was that boy's business if he was going to go about with his head in the clouds.

**Hey readers! Thanks for reading! Sorry it is a little short, I seem to be lacking any inspiration. Feel free to review. I would really appreciate that, even if it's not nice, that's fine too.**


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